Maryland: Brandon Shorts, 23, sentenced to just 90 days in jail for "crushing" Dachshund named Daisy's skull

MARYLAND -- A 23-year-old White Plains man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for reportedly "crushing" the skull of a 2-year-old Dachshund.

Brandon John Shorts was sentenced in Howard County Circuit Court Friday morning on animal cruelty charges.

Officials say the dog belonged to the family of the man's girlfriend.

According to the Howard County State's Attorney's Office, Shorts pled guilty to one count of animal cruelty and one count of malicious destruction of property in January. Officials say the dog was found curled up in her bed, bleeding, and unresponsive on June 10, 2015.

The family rushed the dog, named Daisy, to an emergency animal hospital, where she was euthanized. Hospital officials then called animal control to report a suspected case of animal cruelty.

The veterinarian who performed an autopsy said she believed Daisy was hit, or kicked, or stomped in the head, fracturing her skull and causing significant brain trauma.

"He told investigators that he went to the family home in Laurel to drop off his girlfriend's bags and that Daisy was barking and got underfoot," a release from the Howard County State's Attorney's Office states. "Shorts stated that he kicked Daisy away and she fell down the stairs but ran away. Prosecutors told the court that his statement was not consistent with injuries detailed in the necropsy report which opined that Daisy would have been unable to get into her dog bed; that it was more likely that she was placed there."

At the sentencing hearing, Howard County Assistant State's Attorney Devora Kirschner read a letter from the dog's owners who declined to attend because it is "still very painful even after a year."

Shorts was sentenced to 90 days in jail on the animal cruelty charge and suspended a consecutive sentence of 60 days on the malicious destruction of property charge.

The judge also placed Shorts on three years of supervised probation during which time he can have no contact with Daisy's owners, cannot care for or have custody of any animals, and has to submit to anger management counseling and treatment.

(Fox Baltimore - May 20, 2016)